...I went Blue Fin Tuna
fishing with a friend on his boat. This was my friend Mike’s second time fishing
for tuna and my first. Blue fin are the giants of tuna. Most people fishing
for them have commercial licenses as does Mike. The fishing season is late
summer and early fall. The minimum size that can be sold is 300 lbs, they get
up to 1500 lbs, 900 lbs is not that unusual. The going rate at that time was
$5-$6 per pound (which is low). A typical catch, about 360 lbs, is worth about
$2000. The rods used to catch them are very strong and very expensive. They
have massive reels, like the kind used in the Jaws movie.

Ours was spooled up 800
yards of 150 pound line. The rods are mounted in special swivel rod holders.
For bait we were going to use live fish. To keep the fish alive Mike had a
special barrel mounted in the boat with fresh sea water pumping through it.
Presently we had one live blue fish that we caught on the way out. If we, by
some long shot, caught a large tuna and were able to get it near enough to the
boat we would use a harpoon to secure it and lash it to a cleat. We would then
tow it some 30 miles to green harbor in Marshfield where it would be weighed and
sold.

We got a late start on
Saturday. We arrived at the South West corner of Stellwagon bank (several miles
north of Provincetown) not much before noon. There were approximately some 20
other boats anchored in the area all fishing for Tuna. We picked our spot and
put out 300 feet of anchor line to hold us in 120 feet of water. The wind was
strong at this time and the water a bit rough, but the sights around us were
incredible. There were seagulls diving for fish, at least two species of whales
surfacing, jumping and breaching all around us ( something I've never seen
before) .

After setting anchor
Mike rigged up the first line with the one bait fish we had. Tuna swim near the
surface so to keep the bait up high a balloon was blown up and tied to the line
to keep the fish from swimming too deep. My job was to try to catch some more
bait fish. I rigged up some small hooks with a 6 oz sinker and sent it too the
bottom. Whiting are about 8 inches long and hang out near the bottom. It
didn't take me long. Within the first 5 minutes or so I had caught two and put
them in the bait well. Mike grabbed one and put it on line number two.

It was now about 12:25
pm. Looking around, I didn't see any other boats hooking up, so I knew (at
least I thought) it would be a long wait before we saw any action if at all.
Our wait lasted a whole 5 minutes....

At about 12:30 line
number two started to scream. At first we were stunned, then we went into
action and a bit of chaos. Mike takes initial control of the reel. I start
pulling in the other line and getting the other 6 or so regular fishing poles
out of the way. The line is still tearing out wildly, the pole is swiveling
first to the right then to the left then to the front of the boat near the
anchor line. Mike tightens up on the drag and the massive pole starts bending
down toward the water, the stern of the boat (22 ft and very heavy) begins to
get pulled in the direction of the fish.

It became clear very
shortly that we needed to release ourselves from the anchor and start chasing
the fish so we could start retrieving line and also to keep the fishing line
from getting tangled with the anchor. I take over the reel, Mike goes forward
to release the anchor. Pulling in 300 feet of rope with a very heavy anchor on
the end would take much too long. Instead Mike attaches a float to the line and
throws the whole thing overboard, he marks the spot with the GPS.

First half hour:
I’m at the rod. Mike has the boat in reverse so I can reel and try to bring in
some line. The reel is so hot that it burns my fingers if I touch the metal.
I grab a bucket of water and poor it over the reel to cool it off. I start
retrieving line. Mike maneuvers the boat so the line stays off the stern.

Next hour:
I’m at the helm, Mike does the reeling. The fish runs, we follow, we reel, the
fish gets close to the boat he runs again.

Next 2 hours:
I’m at the helm, Mike does the reeling. The fish runs, we follow, we reel, the
fish gets close to the boat he runs again. My neck is stiff. My body has been
positioned forward while looking backwards so long that my neck is getting sore
and can’t straighten it out without pain. Mike amazingly enough still has
energy to retrieve line.

We are constantly
maneuvering the boat to keep the line out of the engine and to keep the fish
from getting under the boat (which he managed to do at least twice) Every once
in a while the fish would stop and so would we. Other times he would be
dragging the boat in circles. At one point we had the fish so close to the boat
that the leader (15 ft long) came out of the water.

5 PM: We are miles from where we left the anchor.
The engine is off and the massive fish is pulling the boat in circles. We are
alone on the water except for another boat coming our direction, they pull up.
They are experienced tuna fishermen and try to help out. They tell us that
we’ve been letting the fish rest too long, the pole should be bent more, we need
to tighten the drag and keep the fish straight below us. Mike tightens up on
the line. The massive fishing pole is bending way over and pointing almost
directly to the water.

5:25 PM We are 6 miles from where we dropped off the
anchor. The fish has slowed, it is straight down below the boat. I get the
harpoon ready. Mike is slowly pulling it up. The hook breaks free…